Papers detail Ashcroft-Gonzales confrontation

August 17, 2007|By Dan Eggen The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was "feeble" and "barely articulate" after a hospital room confrontation in March 2004 with Alberto Gonzales, according to personal notes from the FBI director released Thursday. Gonzales wanted Ashcroft to approve a warrantless wiretapping program over Justice Department objections.

Five pages of heavily censored notes from FBI Director Robert Mueller also suggest that Ashcroft's deputy was so concerned about undue pressure from Gonzales and other White House aides that he asked Mueller to bar any more visitors from entering Ashcroft's room.

The records also show that Mueller met with Vice President Cheney in connection with the dispute later in the month, on March 23.

The notes, which were released after Mueller turned them over to the House Judiciary Committee, provide further insight into a tumultuous but secret legal battle that gripped the Justice Department and White House in March 2004, after senior Justice Department officials had determined that some activities of a warrantless wiretapping program run by the National Security Agency were illegal.

Although the broad outlines of the legal dispute have been reported in media accounts dating to early 2006, the episode has attracted sharp attention from Congress in recent months following testimony from James Comey, the former deputy attorney general under Aschroft.

Comey described in vivid detail his rush to Ashcroft's bedside before the visit from Gonzales, then White House counsel, and Andrew Card, the former White House chief of staff. Comey testified that he was angered because he believed Gonzales and Card were attempting to take advantage of a sick man.

Mueller's description of Ashcroft's physical condition stands in stark contrast to testimony last month from Gonzales, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the former attorney general was "lucid" and "did most of the talking" during the brief meeting.

"We were there maybe five minutes, five or six minutes," Gonzales said. "Mr. Ashcroft talked about the legal issues in a lucid form, as I've heard him talk about legal issues in the White House."

Mueller, who had been dining with his wife and daughter, did not reach Ashcroft's hospital room until after Gonzales and Card had left. But Comey recounted the meeting in detail, including a comment from Ashcroft indicating that he did not feel fully informed about the warrantless wiretapping effort.

"The AG also told them that he was barred from obtaining advice he needed on the program by the strict compartmentalization rules of the WH," according to Mueller's notes.